Celtic suffered a damaging first-leg Europa League defeat to Valencia on Thursday night.
Andy Walker has ruthlessly claimed that Celtic were ‘outplayed’ and ‘outclassed’ during their 2-0 first-leg Europa League round of 32 defeat to Valencia on Thursday night.
Walker stated that Brendan Rodgers side ‘got a taste of their own medicine’ against the La Liga outfit as he was comparing the Bhoys dominance in domestic matches to those in Europe.
Denis Cheryshev opened the scoring for the away side minutes before the half-time break before the Russian turned provider for Sobrino to double his side’s lead after the interval.
During his post-match assessment of the match, former Premiership player Walker simply stated that Rodgers side were not good enough on the night as he pointed towards the gulf in class.
“Celtic got a taste of their own medicine,” Walker told Sky Sports News on 14/02/2019 at 9:55 pm. “I thought they were outplayed and outclassed. It was a comfortable victory in the end for Valencia. They showed their quality.
“They were bringing on substitutes that cost £30 to £40 million and Celtic can’t compete with that. Valencia did a job on Celtic – very little chance of Celtic getting back in the second leg.”
The Scottish Premiership leaders now face a big ask in overturning the Spanish side’s two-goal lead when the duo meet for the second leg in Valencia’s back yard.
Europe is one area where Rodgers is trying to prove his worth as he has dominated on the domestic front in Scotland, winning the double treble in recent seasons.
There is no doubt that his team underperformed on the night and failed to really threaten the opposition as they will have to up their game for the return leg.
Nonetheless, Celtic will be looking to return to winning ways at the weekend when they travel to Kilmarnock on Sunday, with the Glasgow club holding a six-point lead on second-placed Rangers in the table.
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